


The Thing About Danny

by Ithinkwehaveanemergency



Series: Love, Greenberg [5]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Pining, Teen Crush, Temporarily Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-16
Updated: 2020-06-16
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:55:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,789
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24761950
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ithinkwehaveanemergency/pseuds/Ithinkwehaveanemergency
Summary: Jackson and Danny were inseparable after that.Danny still talked to Zach on messenger, even convinced Zach to join lacrosse with him, but slowly, eventually, they turned into virtual strangers.And since that sort of thing happens all the time in high school, Zach wouldn't have been too torn up about it, except that he'd been in love with Danny at least since they were twelve.OrZachary Greenberg deals with his feelings for Danny Mahaelani in the background of the canon events of Teen Wolf.
Relationships: Greenberg/Danny Mahealani
Series: Love, Greenberg [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1754119
Comments: 4
Kudos: 10





	The Thing About Danny

Danny Mahaelani used to be a bit of an outcast when they were all freshmen. His shoulders were broad and bony, and he'd grown almost a foot since the end of junior high. His acne was as bad as any fourteen year old boy, and he hadn't yet learned the joys of pomade.

He walked around campus with a bit of a hunch, not yet comfortable in his own bones. His skin always had notes littered all over the place, like he could never be bothered to get a piece of paper out to write down his homework.

Plus there was the fact that he had pictures of Davey Havok and Burt McCracken and other old emo heartthrobs plastered all over his binders.

All in all, he kept to himself, nose buried in his laptop, only ever socializing with one or two people.

But then there was the day just one week into sophomore year that Jackson Whittmore reached over and grabbed Danny's wrist as they walked out of their last class of the day. He'd asked Danny if his wallet was a special edition Louis Vuitton line, and then essentially demanded, "Get in loser, we're going shopping."

Zachary Greenberg used to be one of his closest friends up until that moment, so he remembers it all too well.

Jackson and Danny were inseparable after that.

Danny still talked to Zach on messenger, even convinced Zach to join lacrosse with him, but slowly, eventually, they turned into virtual strangers.

And since that sort of thing happens all the time in high school, Zach wouldn't have been too torn up about it, except that he'd been in love with Danny at least since they were twelve.

They'd been in class together in fourth and fifth grade, but it wasn't until they were preteen boys, playing basketball and video games and ditching class, when Zachary Greenberg started dreaming about growing up and marrying his best friend, just like his Social Science teacher at the time, Mr. Todd always said he married his childhood best friend.

Zach held onto hope that it could happen until Jackson entered their life. And then his dreams disappeared like a distant childhood fantasy.

And so, Junior year comes along.

Scott and Stiles happen.

Zach doesn't even remember seeing them around campus the year before, but suddenly they're practically everywhere.

And then Jackson dies. Except he doesn't. But he does leave, and when Danny shows up late one summer afternoon, Zach is there with an Xbox controller extended as a 'welcome back.'

But school starts again, and Ethan happens.

More people die.

Danny is almost one of them, and it scares the _shit_ out of Zach.

So when Danny gets out of the hospital, it's Zach who reaches out to him first.

*****

Danny's mom lets him in and accepts the gift basket with a firm hug. She nods over her shoulder at the living room, and Zach shoves his hands in his pockets as he approaches his old friend.

"Greenberg?"

Danny blinks tiredly from the couch, sitting up gingerly.

"I hate it when you call me that." Zach huffs, but smiles as kindly as he can muster given the circumstances. He walks over to the opposite end of the couch and sits down without invitation.

"Sorry." Danny rubs his eyes and turns the TV volume down. "Habit, I guess. What's up? You haven't come by in ages."

Zach snorts softly and looks over at the tall, handsome, exhausted young man he's been harboring feelings for over the past five years.

"You didn't really give me any reason to." Zach shrugs. "Too busy with your boyfriend. Boy _friends_ , I guess. I can't keep track."

Danny doesn't respond, but he looks down at his hands where they're gripping the blanket.

"I'm not mad about you ignoring me, man." Zach sighs and shifts on the couch so he's facing Danny better. "I'm just worried. Ethan isn't… He's not what you think he is, Danny."

"I know, Greenberg." Danny's gaze snaps up to meet his, surprised and angry. "I know about what they are. Jackson told me everything and I put the rest together myself. Though, I'm not sure how _you_ know."

Zach closes his eyes and leans his head against the back of the couch.

"I've always known." He breathes out softly. "I don't really wanna get into it, Danny. I just want you to stop putting yourself in these dangerous situations."

He opens his eyes and meets Danny's confused frown.

"I don't know what I would do if something worse than what happened the other day happened to you." Zach continues. "You're still my best friend, even if you've moved on."

Zach gets up then, and walks away without a response.

*****

Danny and Ethan stay together.

Zach doesn't reach out again.

*****

"Honey?"

Zach looks up at the door where his mom is smiling, but with sad eyes that wander over the mess of boxes in his room.

"Why don't you take a break from your… remodeling?" She speaks gently, looking down the hall. "You have a visitor."

Of all the… two or three people Zach expected to walk into his doorway, Danny Mahaelani isn't one of them.

"Hey Zach." Danny nods, looking around the room with a scowl, probably noting the bare walls and empty bookshelf

"I'll let you boys talk." Zach's mom pats Danny on the chest familiarly before walking away.

"Thanks Mrs. G." Danny calls after her.

He turns back to Zach and walks into the room.

"Going somewhere?" Danny asks, peering into an open box of textbooks and notepads.

"Just putting old stuff into storage." Zach answers as he tapes down the plastic flap on a comic sleeve.

"Huh." Danny huffs, mostly to himself as he looks around the room again.

"What're you doing here?" Zach asks, shutting the full box of comic books and standing up. He wipes his hands off on his jeans and then sits on the edge of his bed. He looks up to see Danny shifting awkwardly next to a stack of boxes. "You can sit, man."

"Uh, thanks." Danny nods and takes a seat next to him. He leans his forearms on his knees and laces his fingers together before looking over at Zach with a furrowed brow. "I broke up with Ethan. Well, _we_ broke up. It was an agreed upon break."

He nods and looks forward again.

Zach doesn't know how to respond, so he doesn't. But that seems to be fine with Danny, who has more to say.

"I'm sorry." Danny exhales shakily. "I knew you were right, I just… I guess I just… I dunno…"

"You just liked him, right?" Zach offers, reaching out and placing a hand on Danny's hunched shoulder. "You can't help who you have feelings for. I get it."

"About that." Danny's muscles tense beneath Zach's palm and he twists his neck to look over at Zach. "Ethan seems to think that you… He thinks you have feelings for me."

Zach pulls his hand away like he's been burned, and tries not to flinch as he looks away.

"Seriously, Zach?" Danny whispers in disbelief. Zach hunches over, mirroring Danny's position, just as Danny stands up and runs his hands through his hair. "Why didn't you ever say anything? Why didn't you ever say you liked _guys_ ?! All those years ago, you were the _first_ person I told, dude! Why couldn't you-"

"Because I didn't know!" Zach shouts over Danny's frustrated rant. He stands up, still feeling so small next to the broad, muscled goalie. "And then you suddenly weren't there anymore. And I was sad, and I was bitter, and despite how many guys I saw you pick over me, from Jackson to the random twenty-year-old douchebag from the jungle... I was still so fucking into you that it _hurt_."

"I was never into Jackson like that." Danny argues.

"That's why _that_ was the one that hurt most of all!" Zach yells, wincing when he realizes his mom can probably hear them arguing. He lowers his voice and rubs a hand across his jaw. "We were best friends. And you just… picked someone else over me. So of course I wasn't going to tell you that I had feelings for you. You didn't even like me enough to return my calls."

Danny's face falls, heartbroken and guilt-ridden.

"I never-"

"Why are you even here, Danny?" Zach sighs and sits back down on his bed. He flops backwards and drops his forearm across his eyes as he feels them turning red.

"I wanted to let you know that I'm not going back to Beacon next fall."

Zach freezes and feels his chest clench.

"We're uh…" Danny's voice gets closer and he sits back down next to Zach on the bed. "My parents are moving to Hawaii. And I'm gonna go with them."

Zach moves his arm off his face, not caring if actual tears are forming in the corners of his eyes.

"When do you leave?"

"Two weeks." Danny answers and falls back next to him. The two boys stare at the ceiling.

"Okay."

They don't say anything else until Zach's mom calls them downstairs for pizza, insisting that she'd ordered Danny's favorite.

*****

Zach walks into Danny's nearly empty room and sets his water down.

Danny is passed out on the bed in his Beacon Hills sweats and nothing else, his tanned skin glowing in the afternoon sunlight from the window. Zach's heart beats hard and painful in his chest as he looks at his gorgeous friend who he's spent the last two weeks falling in love with all over again, but more importantly, rebuilding his friendship with.

They hadn't talked about the argument over feelings and growing apart at all during the last two weeks. They'd played video games and gone out running and to play basketball at the park like when they were younger. They'd even gone to a show together, an old band they'd both listened to years ago.

And now Zach is looking down at the gorgeous seventeen-year-old and his heart breaks, but not the same way it had all those other times that he thought Danny didn't care about him. It breaks because it feels like he's losing the first and only person who has ever made him feel this way.

Zach sits down on the bed gently, but Danny stirs immediately, reaching out and grabbing his knee tiredly.

"Thought you were coming over like an hour ago." Danny mumbles into his pillow sleepily.

"Had to walk. Mom's car is in the shop." Zach pats the hand on his knee in apology and then grips it lightly with his own. "They came and picked up all your stuff already?"

"Yeah. Couple hours ago." Danny exhales and opens his eyes finally, turning onto his side and pulling Zach closer by the hand. Zach sighs and goes along, lying down beside the other teen on the bed. "My parents let you in? I thought they were going to a party."

"Caught them on their way out. They said they'd be back at midnight."

"Oooh, they've never left me alone with a boy before." Danny fakes a scandalized tone before laughing. "That they know of, I mean."

Zach laughs weakly and stares at the ceiling.

"Yeah well, they know I'm not that kind of boy to you."

Danny props himself up on his elbow so that he can look down at Zach's face. His brow is crinkled and his mouth is pursed, unimpressed.

"You know, I'll admit I was kind of a dick sometimes… I really am sorry. But you could have been, you know? You _would_ have been, if you'd ever said anything." Danny scoffs.

Zach shrugs, feeling boneless and tired as Danny searches his face eagerly. He doesn't have the strength to talk about their past anymore. He just wants to enjoy the last few hours they have together.

He wants to enjoy finally having his best friend back.

"Not much I can do about it now." Zach smiles up at Danny's pouty expression. "Just glad you're getting away from all this crazy fucking mess. I can't believe Stilinski is even still alive at this rate. I can't wait to move to LA and leave this crap behind me."

"You're going to USC?" Danny's eyes go wide with surprise. "I didn't know that."

"My dad still teaches there." Zach quirks up the corner of his mouth. "He kind of expects me to. Plus they've got a great film program."

"You still wanna be a filmmaker?" Danny smiles fondly and squeezes Zach's hand where they're still lazily gripping each other. "That's cool. I'm glad you're gonna get to follow your dream."

"Are you not going to?" Zach frowns exaggeratedly up at his friend. "If I recall, you wanted to marry a filthy rich man and settle down in a fancy beachfront town where people waited on you hand and foot."

Danny throws his head back and laughs, Zach joins him and they smile at each other as the laughter dies down.

"Not sure, to be honest." Danny bites his lip. His eyes roam Zach's content expression. "I'm still figuring out what my dream really is. But I did get a partial ride to play lacrosse at UCI."

"What?" Zach blinks in surprise. "Since when?"

"A few weeks ago. I haven't responded." Danny grins. "But it's looking like a good option."

"You're really considering it?" Zach whispers, hope dancing in his eyes.

"I think so." Danny bites his lip and nods.

"Okay." Zach nods back. "That's not too far from USC, you know."

Danny's smile widens.

They fall asleep with their fingers tangled together between them on the bed.

*****

Zach Greenberg takes in the walls of the bedroom in his new apartment.

It's tiny, and cramped, and the freeway is a bit noisy. But it's his.

_"Greenberg!_ "

Zach frowns and rolls his eyes as his moment is disrupted by Jackson Whittemore's grating growl from the front of the apartment.

_"Where are we putting this eyesore of a sofa?!"_

"It's Danny's sofa, blame him if you hate it!" Zach shouts back on his way to the small living area of the one bedroom apartment.

"We can hear you without shouting, Zach." Ethan Whittemore sighs, backing into the apartment carefully as Jackson yells at him to watch the door frame.

"Aren't you glad we have super-powered friends to help us move, babe?" Danny mumbles into his hair as he steps up behind his boyfriend of two and a half years.

They've been dating since Zach's second semester at USC, and with housing assistance on Danny's part, and Zach's dad covering half of the rent. The two fourth year university students had managed to find a place in Long Beach for both of them to live.

"Gross." Jackson sneers at them once he and Ethan drop the couch in the middle of the room.

"Whatever, man." Zach chuckles, leaning back into his tall, broad-shouldered boyfriend's arms. "I have a full length film worth of video with you ugly crying several times throughout your wedding."

"Shut the fuck up, Greenberg." Jackson walks to the kitchen to grab his canteen, taking a long drink before passing it to his husband who is relaxing on the awkwardly placed couch.

"You know…" Danny arches an eyebrow at the man he's considered his closest friend for most of the past ten years. "That's gonna get real confusing once we get married."

"We're getting married!?" Zach squeaks out as Jackson yells in outrage.

"Like _hell_ you're taking his name, Mahaelani!"

Danny just laughs and spins Zach around to face him.

"It's the last step of my dream, y'know?" Danny grins. "Beachfront town. _Check_ . People waiting on me hand and foot. _Check_."

"Fuck off, Danny." Ethan throws a pillow from the couch at the hugging couple.

Danny ignores it and smiles down at his childhood friend and love of his life.

"Just gotta lock down that rich husband." He jokes, squeezing Zach's chest to his own and leaning down to kiss him on the cheek. "And with the fact that you've won like two film competitions with that last project…"

Zach snorts and rests his head on Danny's chest, ignoring the sounds of Jackson and Ethan heckling them and Danny sniping back.

He loses himself in a memory of a young lanky boy with leather wrist cuffs and band tees and messy writing on his arms.

He tightens his arms around Danny's neck and mumbles into his collarbone.

"This was the _first_ step in my dream." His voice is barely a whisper, but still, he feels Danny's arms go tighter around him. So he smiles and thinks about the next step.

  
  



End file.
